Illumina announces global expansion plans in India

Bengaluru: Illumina Inc., a global leader in DNA sequencing and array-based technologies, has announced its plans to establish a Global Capability Center in Bengaluru, India, as an investment to expand its technology workforce in support of a global customer base.

The investment announcement was made at the Illumina India Genomics Summit in Bengaluru, a flagship event of the company.

“Genomics is a critical part of public health, from characterizing new and emerging pathogens to revolutionizing the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease,” said Gretchen Weightman, Illumina’s senior vice president of the Asia-Pacific, Middle East & Africa region. “Illumina has been supporting India for over a decade by providing access to genomic sequencing technologies, in particular next-generation sequencing, and building our presence and capability in India makes sense to accelerate this.”

Bengaluru joins Singapore; Cambridge, England; Eindhoven, the Netherlands; Shanghai; Madison, Wisconsin; Hayward, California; and San Diego as Illumina Global Capability Centers. As part of this, Illumina aims to hire 100 technology professionals in India, including software engineers, IT hardware and network engineers, and system analysts in 2024 and 200 more by the end of 2025.

Last year, Illumina opened a new office and state-of-the-art genomics lab – known as an Illumina Solutions Center in Bengaluru. The facility features a fully equipped laboratory with the latest next-generation sequencing technologies as provides training and education opportunities.

“Illumina has had a strong presence in India, working with our trusted channel partner Premas Life Sciences, for the past 17 years, and more recently with the opening of our ISC,” Weightman said. “During this time, we have seen the capability of the genomics industry in India grow substantially. Expanding Illumina’s presence in India offers us access to a talented workforce and helps Illumina take advantage of efficiencies, driving flexibility and agility to advance our mission further.”

The Illumina India Genomics Summit in Bengaluru welcomed a variety of genomics experts, clinicians, researchers, and scientists to exchange their experience and knowledge around the latest updates in genomics, encompassing clinical and translational research.